Languages

You are here

Languages

How many languages can you speak? British people are generally not very good language learners. In a recent survey, 62 per cent of the population only speak English!

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises to check your understanding.

78

Preparation

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably studying English. Maybe you speak a couple of other languages too. What are the British like when it comes to learning languages?

Statistics

Brits are famous for not speaking foreign languages. According to a survey published by the European Commission, this bad reputation is totally justified. The results of the survey state that the British are officially the worst language learners in Europe! Let’s look at some statistics:

62 per cent of people surveyed can’t speak any other language apart from English.

38 per cent of Britons speak at least one foreign language, 18 per cent speak two and only 6 per cent of the population speak three or more.

The European Union average showed that 56 per cent speak at least one foreign language, 28 per cent speak at least two and 11 per cent speak three or more. The survey confirmed that English was the most widely-spoken foreign language. 51 per cent of EU citizens can have a conversation in English.

School

Learning a foreign language is not a popular option at school in Britain. In UK schools it is common for children to start studying a foreign language at the age of 11 and many students give up languages completely at 14. So why don’t young people continue with languages at school? Research suggests that students think that it is more difficult to get good grades in languages than in other subjects such as science or history. The British government is now looking at different ways to improve language learning at school. One idea is to start much younger; there are plans to introduce foreign languages from the age of five.

Which languages?

Another plan is to give school children more choice. The languages traditionally studied in British schools have been French, Spanish and German. Now the government is encouraging teachers to expand the range of languages taught to include Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Urdu.

Mandarin is predicted to become the second most popular foreign language learned in UK schools. It is already studied by more children than German or Russian. Only French and Spanish are more popular. Gareth from Wales says ‘I am learning Chinese, and find it fun’. Another student, Thomas from London, says ‘Just telling people that I learn Mandarin impresses people. Even having a very basic level gives you an advantage’. Brighton College has become the first independent school to make Mandarin a compulsory foreign language. Its headmaster Richard Cairns said, ‘One of my key tasks is to make sure pupils are equipped for the realities of the 21st century. One of those realities is that China has the fastest-growing economy in the world’.

It may be an ambitious task to change attitudes towards learning languages but the government is determined to try!

Discussion

Comments

Hi! I'm from Russia! I can speak 2 languages : Russian and English. I'm crazy about English! I'm going to become a teacher of foreign languages, especially English. I think it's useful to know different languages . You can watch foreign movies, read literature or just talk to foreigner! For example, as I know English I can understand my favourite music band's songs, understand what the bandmates say in interview.

I can speak 2 languages: Russian (my native language) and English. Also I know Ucrainian a little. I real like learning English, it's very interesting to compare different languages and get to know information about culture, traditions of the countries where English is spoken. Also, I can watch films and listen to music in English and understand! Isn't it wonderful? And the most enjoyable thing I can do is talking to people all over the world and make friends with them! Another advantage of knowing foreign languages is that in our country it'll be more easely to find a decent job. I need to study English because my future profession requires communications with different people and with foreigners too.

I can speak two languages Spanish and English, I like to learn English because it is interesting, also is fun.
I think it's important to master foreign languages, but not forgetting the native language of your country, which belong to your culture and that should not be missed, and these must also learn.

I speak three languages but for now I am learning English, this lenguages is easy because i spend ten hour studying this language. Is very important leanr a lot lenguages because you can talk with a lot of people for diferent contry .

I can speak two languajes. This are Espanish end English.
Learning English is very important for my because I like to learn new Languajes. Is vey important learn new
languages because you can talk with peoples from diferents country end learn their customs.

I speak three languajes are spanish, aymara and english, the language english is more important and interesting now that the languege you will serve for the future.
Is very important learn foreign languages because when you to go another country is very normal.

I speak in spanish also I am learning to speak english in my school. In the future, I also want to learn another languages like french or japanese. I like to speak in english, because I think that this language is easier If I frequently study and practice. The english is very important. And I think that learning another languages are important because so I can Express my ideas to others and learn from other countries.

Hi, I am from Myanmar. I am 10th standard student. I will have to answer my final exam on 11th March, next month.
If I pass the exam, I will go to university. So I am trying for exam. After my exam, I will have much time to learn English
including English teens. I am so interesting this training but I will have to stay away from English teens now.
.

I am from Indonesia so My First language is Indonesian. I learn English since Primary school but I still can't use Grammar well (and I just can speak a little) . I also ever learn Arabic but yeah I just can use a little. Now, I learn German language but I don't understand and I think I will get bad mark for this lesson. Yeah I just speak well with my First language. I am sorry if My English is terrible...

I am learning English for six years and German for four years. I love English and I want to be improved a bit every day as possibly as I can. I think is too important to learn foreign languages because will helps you in the future (jobs, if you travel in counties who speaks English).

I'm from the Czech republic, so my first language is of course Czech. I just love English. It's my first foreign language and it's compulsory for almost every child in the CR. The rest of them study German, or at least used to. Now it might be compulsory to study English for everyone. Well, I don't know, because we start learning English in year 3 and I'm in year 10 and my sister in year 8.
My second foreign language is German. That is now compulsory in year 8- either German, French or Russian in my school. I first thought German is really useless, because everyone in German speaks English. But then I went to Germany for an exchange. We were supposed to speak English there and we did. But I had to speak German with my exchange partner's parents. Then I realised how's much I can say after a year and a half and I started to be interested and pretty good at it.

Hi bagheri
Once you have written some comments on the LearnEnglish site, the LearnEnglish Team will be able to advise you and help you to find ways of improving your English.
Good luck and happy learning, Tina (LearnEnglish Teen Team)

Hi bagheri
Thanks for your comments on LearnEnglish Teens. This website is especially for teenagers aged 13-17 years old but it sounds like you are older than that. You are welcome to keep on using LearnEnglish Teens but if you are over 17, please do NOT post any more comments as we must keep this strictly for teenagers to interact with each other. You are welcome to join our LearnEnglish page for adults and post comments there: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish
Best wishes, Tina (LearnEnglish Teen Team)

Hi, I'm from Russia. I speak two languages: Russian and English. Now I'm improving my English and learning another language - German, but I want to study other foreign languages, too. In my opinion, speaking foreign language gives a lot of advantages, so it's very important for me.

I can speak three foreign languages: English, Italian and Russian. I like learning English. I think it is very important to know other languages. Then is all easy: we can travel and have good time, we can talk with people around the world, we can listen and understand foreign music, read books on foreign language...Wherever you go you need it.

I'm from Macedonia, so Macedonian is my mother language. I also speak English, French and Serbian, because Macedonian and Serbian language have very in common and they are from same language group. I understand Spanish a little too, because of one interesting Spanish series that was showing in my country .
I love learning English. I started learning English when I was 8. Now I'm 14 and I'm still enjoying while learning English. It's one of my favourite languages and I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to speak English with a real British accent.
I love my language, but I also love learning new languages, new things and things about new cultures. In the future I'd like to learn to speak Spanish and Turkish maybe. It's very important for me to speak foreign languages, because that skill makes me feel special, smart and powerful in the same time.